On Thursday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she will not seek re-election to Congress in 2026.

At 85, Pelosi holds the distinction of being the first and only woman to serve as Speaker of the House. Her significant political career began in 1987, and she ranks as the second-highest elected female official in U.S. history, following former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Pelosi has represented San Francisco for decades, a city known for its thriving tech industry and innovative start-up scene. Over the past 40 years, she has witnessed and influenced the city’s substantial transformation.

In a message shared on social media, she expressed, “With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative.”

She continued with a heartfelt message to her constituents, “As we go forward, my message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power. We have made history. We have made progress.”

Pelosi was elected as the House’s first-ever female speaker from 2007 – 2011, ruling Congress for much of President Barack Obama’s first term. 

She was awarded the gavel again in 2019, under President Donald Trump’s first term, a post she held until 2023.

She will go down as one of the longest tenured leaders in the US House of Representatives after leading the House Democrats for 20 years. She is by far the most powerful female in congressional history. 

Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced she won’t seek reelection 

Former Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi is assisted by aides as she arrives for the first day of the 119th Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 03, 2025 in Washington, DC

Pelosi is the second highest elected female official in US history behind Kamala Harris

And Republicans are ruminating on the announcement that their longtime nemesis has finally decided to give up power.

‘The retirement of Nancy Pelosi is a great thing for America,’ Trump told Fox News. ‘She was Evil, Corrupt, and only focused on bad things for our country. She was rapidly losing control of her party, and it was never coming back.’

‘I’m very honored she impeached me twice and failed miserably twice. Nancy Pelosi is a highly overrated politician.’

The president and Pelosi feuded extensively over the years. Trump has called Pelosi an assortment of degrading nicknames and alleged she’s corrupt. 

Pelosi, meanwhile, led two impeachment attempts against the 79-year-old president.

She also famously tore his State of the Union speech in half in front of millions of Americans watching at home in a defiant act of opposition during Trump’s first term. 

Their relationship hit new lows after the January 6 riots, during which Pelosi was in the Capitol before being evacuated to a nearby military base. 

During the riot, the pro-Trump protestors broke into the Democrat’s office and rummaged through her belongings, videos of the incident show.

Pelosi and her daughter Christine Pelosi hold ‘We Love Joe’ signs as he speaks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in 2024 

Nancy Pelosi with her husband Paul Pelosi in December 2024 

Pelosi rips up pages of the State of the Union speech after Trump finishes his speech on February 4, 2020

The president and Pelosi later blamed each other for not authorizing the deployment of the National Guard to protect the Capitol complex in a timely manner.  

The former speaker also played a central role in the Democratic Party’s soul-searching amid President Joe Biden’s shaky presidential campaign. 

She reportedly insisted that Biden step aside, and during TV hits, she publicly urged the aging president to reconsider. 

Jill Biden, who has had a 50-year friendship with Pelosi, later called the ex-speaker’s conduct before the election ‘disappointing.’ 

In 2022, tragedy struck when Pelosi’s husband, Paul, a venture capitalist, was attacked at the couple’s San Francisco home and beaten in the head with a hammer. 

The assailant was later arrested and charged, but the incident’s violence underscores the rise in political violence over the course of the congresswoman’s 38-year career. 

The daughter of Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., a former congressman from Baltimore, Pelosi was a part of a political dynasty of sorts. 

Though her path to the peak of congressional power is a story uniquely her own.